It’s Thursday here in Al Ain and today was the first official day of racing at the Al Ain Raceway. Due to the full schedule today, many teams had to arrive very early inthe morning. Ordinarily this is no problem but seeing as how BRP-Powertrain hosted their mid-week BBQ last night, there were a few people walking into the pits this morning looking like they needed a couple extra hours of sleep.
The mid-week BBQ has become quite a popular event. Last night the gala was held at the Al Ain Hilton which was very convenient for Team USA. In addition to great food and drink, the event featured a DJ, and was held in a beautiful Arabian setting by the pool. In true BRP fashion, everything was first class right down to the Rotax bunting that surrounded the party site.
The morning started as usual with a short warm up session for all classes. Once those were complete the Juniors took to the track with race groups A and B in competition. The groups are configured as A, B, C and D in order of the drivers qualifying times. Throughout the two days of heat races, in each category, group A will raceB then C will race D. After that it’s A vs. C and B vs. D. Finally A will go up against D while B and C square off. That way everyone in the field will race against everyone else in at least on of their three heats.
As mentioned, the day started with Junior MAX group A vs. B. Jake Craig made a great start and did Team USA proud by coming home in fourth. In his second heat, Jake got the job done again with a fine 5th place. In the second heat race (Junior C vs. D) Dalton Sargeant and Oliver Askew made good progress from their mid-field starting positions. Dalton was really on the move for a while but got punted off the track at one point and lost several positions. This is often the case at the Grand Finals as every position is a really tough battle.
Senior MAX saw all three Team USA drivers on the move with the highlight being Kiel Spaulding’s 5th place in heat race #4. Sam Beasley ran into some trouble and ended up coming back on the wagon after getting caught up in someone else’s wreck. In their afternoon heats, Stepanova Nekeel finished a fine seventh in heat race #12. Sam and Kiel recorded a 14th and 11th respectively.
In DD2 Masters, Erik Jackson accounted very well for himself finishing 8th and 7th in both his heat races. Rene Martinelli struggled in the first heat after suffering some major damage to his kart in practice. For the second heat they managed to switch chassis and he ran better, coming up to 12th place. Todd Ulmen ran well in the first heat but had a spin in the second and ran at the back of the pack.
In DD2, Kristina made a self-admitted error at the start of her first heat which dropped her back to the tail of the field. Proving she’s a real racer, she charged back through the pack making some great passes to finish 19th. In her second heat, she started 19th but was up to 12th going into turn one when someone spun and came back onto the track right in front of her. The resulting contact not only knocked her out of the race, but took a herculean effort by her team, led by tuner Denis Thum, to get the chassis straight again and ready for the morning. . Derek Wang had a day that was very frustrating. After getting knocked off the track in the first heat race and running at the tail of the field with totally bent steering components, he encountered more problems in the second heat which left him a similar result. Both these drivers know that tomorrow they will need a great finish to avoid the last chance race.
In the evening, since it is Thanksgiving, the Al Ain Hilton hosted a traditional American style Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and all the trimmings. They even had a chocolate fountain running that was a real treat. Although much of the focus is on racing, life away from the track alone at the Grad Finals is worth the trip because of nights like these.
Race results from the day were:
Race 1: Junior MAX A vs. B
1 Sasahara, Ukyo Japan
2 Makino, Tadasuke Japan
3 Van Moorsel, Jordi Netherlands
4 Craig, Jake United States
5 Polakovich, Mateo Argentina
Race 2: Junior MAX C vs. D
1 Lazare, Jesse Canada
2 Mawson, Joseph Australia
3 Morin, Philip Sweden
4 Lehane, Pierce Australia
5 Harker, Reid New Zealand
Team USA
16 Askew, Oliver United States
23 Sargeant, Dalton United States
Race 3: Senior MAX A vs. B
1 Babington, Sean United Kingdom
2 Sera, David Australia
3 Cooper, Ben United Kingdom
4 Sekioka, Toshiki Japan
5 Picot, Nicolas France
Team USA
15 Nekeel, Stepanova United States
Race 4: Senior MAX D vs. D
1 Dabski, Karol Poland
2 King, Andy United Kingdom
3 Brand, Edward United Kingdom
4 Lindgren, Linus Sweden
5 Spaulding, Kiel United States
Other Team USA
35 Beasley, Sam United States
Race 5: DD2 Masters A vs. B
1 Morgado, Cristiano South Africa
2 Matis, Andreas Germany
3 Brand, Danny Belgium
4 Lundstroem, Peter Denmark
5 Kroes, Dennis Netherlands
Team USA
14 Ulmen, Todd United States
18 Martinelli, Rene United States
Race 6: DD2 Masters C vs. D
1 Victorsson, Martin Sweden
2 Campbell, Scott Canada
3 Adams, Christophe Belgium
4 Lambert, Florent United Kingdom
5 Davis, Colin United Kingdom
Team USA
8 Jackson, Eric United States
Race 7: DD2 A vs. B
1 Latifi, Nicholas Canada
2 De Ruwe, Xen Belgium
3 Ouellette, Pier-Luc Canada
4 Pringle, Jason Australia
5 Fleischmann, Maximilian Germany
Team USA
19 Vorndran, Kristina United States
Race 8: DD2 C vs. D
1 Murray, Marc South Africa
2 Laiho, Miika Finland
3 Detige, Mathias Belgium
4 Ward, Damian Australia
5 Huttunen, Jari Finland
Team USA
31 Wang, Derek United States
Race 9: Junior MAX A vs. C
1 Mawson, Joseph Australia
2 Lehane, Pierce Australia
3 Sasahara, Ukyo Japan
4 Hare, Aston South Africa
5 Craig, Jake United States
Other Team USA
14 Askew, Oliver United States
34 Sargeant, Dalton United States
Race 10: Junior MAX B vs. D
1 Makino, Tadasuke Japan
2 Barlow, Jack United Kingdom
3 Harrison, Nathan United Kingdom
4 Van Moorsel, Jordi Netherlands
5 Esmeijer, Janneau Netherlands
No Team USA in race 10
Race 11: Senior MAX A vs. C
1 Babington, Sean United Kingdom
2 Riener, Stefan Austria
3 Sasaki, Hirotaka Japan
4 Forman, Jiri Czech Republic
5 Van Den Brand, Mats Netherlands
Team USA:
11 Spaulding, Kiel United States
Race 12: Senior MAX B vs. D
1 Cooper, Ben United Kingdom
2 Sera, David Australia
3 Greenbury, Tyler Australia
4 Brand, Edward United Kingdom
5 Kancsar, Ferenc Hungary
Team USA
7 Nekeel, Stepanova United States
14 Beasley, Sam United States
Race 13: DD2 Masters A vs. C
1 Morgado, Cristiano South Africa
2 Lundstroem, Peter Denmark
3 Kroes, Dennis Netherlands
4 Campbell, Scott Canada
5 Brand, Danny Belgium
No Team USA in Race 13
Race 14: DD2 Masters B vs. D
1 Berteaux, Guillaume France
2 Matsuya, Takao Japan
3 Lambert, Florent United Kingdom
4 Pansart, Guy France
5 Hargitai, Gerry Hungary
Team USA
7 Jackson, Eric United States
12 Martinelli, Rene United States
21 Ulmen, Todd United States
Race 15: DD2 A vs. C
1 Ouellette, Pier-Luc Canada
2 Huttunen, Jari Finland
3 Wagner, Simon Austria
4 Jensen, Andreas Denmark
5 Murray, Marc South Africa
Team USA
31 Wang, Derek United States
Race 16: DD2 B vs. D
1 Laiho, Miika Finland
2 Pringle, Jason Australia
3 Brittz, Eugene South Africa
4 Detige, Mathias Belgium
5 Latifi, Nicholas Canada
Team USA
35 Vorndran, Kristina United States
Be sure to stay in touch with Team USA through our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GoRotax and at GoRotax.com.
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